Capacitors are used in many power circuits or electrical systems to smooth voltage and/or current from one device or component to other devices or components. Often, one or more capacitors are connected in parallel between the electrical devices or components. The capacitor reduces current ripple during operation of the electrical system, for example, by compensating for an inductive load or absorbing voltage fluctuations or spikes caused by one of the devices. As the power rating (e.g., voltage level or current level) of the electrical system increases, more capacitance is often needed, which generally requires capacitors having increased volume.
In higher power applications, typically one or more bus bars are used to connect the capacitors to the electrical system. Often, these bus bars are flat sheets of an electrically conductive material, such as copper or aluminum. In order to accommodate higher power ratings and larger capacitors, the bus bars must also have a larger size. As a result of increasing the size of the bus bars, the inductance of bus bars increases. This added inductance has a negative impact on the electrical system and counteracts the capacitor. In switching applications where the current changes at a high rate with respect to time, the added inductance can cause voltage spikes, which may reduce reliability of the other components in the electrical system.